Lawsuit dismissed over Ebola quarantines in Connecticut

Published April 03. 2017 8:38PM

Associated Press

HARTFORD — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and state health officials over quarantines imposed on several people returning from West Africa during the 2014 Ebola epidemic.

U.S. District Judge Alfred Covello in Hartford said the state's public health commissioner was protected from the lawsuit and the plaintiffs lacked standing to make the allegations. The ruling was released Thursday.

The plaintiffs included the Liberian Community Association of Connecticut and 10 people, including a West African family of six. They said they had no Ebola symptoms when they returned to Connecticut in 2014, but were illegally quarantined for weeks. They sought unspecified damages and a ban on similar quarantines.

Malloy's administration defended the quarantines.

A Yale Law School student says the plaintiffs are considering an appeal.